a life in pieces, and we, divided

civil wars

I had a dream that water overtook them.
They were submerged and
I could only watch as they gasped
and flailed,
their eyes boring into me,
I could only feel my heart
stutter to a halt as theirs
did the same their eyes staring into
the glassy cold wet
and gasping I awakened from the nightmare.

They did not die,
but I watched them leave all the same.
Jagged tears slowed to a halt
on their cheeks
and their eyes
Their eyes couldn’t see me
as they were ushered
over the threshold and
away from us, my silent sobs muted
by the civil war
raging around,
she, her hair still wet from the pool, her tongue red from the lollipop
him with the dog tags slung from his neck,
the new gift smell still attached,
and the skirt he chose clinging to his hips.

They did not die,
but I watched them leave all the same.
Their backs
and their faces
crusted from the wet
are all that I have.